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Khaled is crooning about love again. This time the Algerian-born singer is telling Moroccan TV viewers of his affection for a new apartment by local real estate developer Douja Promotion Groupe Addoha SA, rather than a girl who doesn’t care. In another TV ad, Bollywood film star Shah Rukh Khan is singing the praises of a home from Espaces Saada, a smaller builder. Behind the catchy tunes and lavish sets, the developers don’t have much to sing about. Alliances Developpement Immobilier SA, Morocco’s second-biggest builder, and Addoha, its largest, are both asking investors to accept shares instead of dividends this month -- a first for Moroccan homebuilders -- as tighter credit hurts demand for low-cost housing and prompts the companies...

DHL calls itself the “logistics company for the world,” providing transportation via rail, road, sea and air. And Company officials see Africa as a place where its business can boom. For that to happen, though, more international companies will need to invest in the continent and base their operations there. DHL’s Sumesh Rahavendra sees that happening. That’s one of the findings from a recent global technological conference sponsored by his company.“There’s quite a bit of evidence to that in terms of global companies starting to set up base in Africa. If you look at the likes of SAP or IBM or Hisense, which is the Chinese company, all of them are setting base in Africa and looking at how specifically...

The United Nations world tourism body said Sunday it has chosen Zimbabwe to lead its Commission for Africa, the continent-wide group for tourism development for the next two years. The U.N. World Tourism Organization said that conflict-troubled Mali also joins the African tourism commission. Zimbabwe and Zambia are co-hosting the 155-nation tourism organization's summit, held every two years, at the resort of Victoria Falls on their common border. The six-day general assembly was formally opened by the two countries' presidents, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Michael Sata of Zambia. The United Nations said in a statement that July 31 elections in Zimbabwe, bitterly disputed over alleged rigging, "will be respected by the assembly." Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States...

The South African government says former President Nelson Mandela remains in critical but stable condition but his condition becomes "unstable" at times. The government said the ailing anti-apartheid icon who has been hospitalized since June has shown "great resilience" and that his condition "tends to stabilize as a result of medical interventions." In the Saturday statement, President Jacob Zuma urged South Africans to continue praying for the 95-year-old former leader. Mandela is hospitalized in Pretoria. He was admitted to a hospital on June 8 for a recurring lung infection. The former president's health has worsened in recent years. He had been in and out of the hospital for much of the past year. Mandela was elected to serve as South...

Testimony in the trial of fallen Chinese politician Bo Xilai has produced salacious details about the opulent and supposedly corrupt lifestyle of the family of the once high-flying Communist Party aristocrat. But perhaps no tidbit has attracted as much attention as the piece of exotic meat Bo's son, Guagua, brought back from a visit to Africa in 2011. The trip was paid for by entrepreneur Xu Ming, once close to the Bo family and now detained, accused of paying bribes to Bo. The mystery meat was a given by Guagua to his father, according to written testimony at the trial from his wife, Gu Kailai, a transcript of which was published by the court. Gu said she did not remember...

The Japanese Defense Ministry is mulling to dispatch resident officials tasked with military information gathering to Africa countries in a move to strengthen its intelligence collecting capability in the countries, according to local media. The officials will be sent to seven African countries, namely Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa, and Brazil in South America from fiscal 2014 to obtain information over terrorism and other security issues, Japan's Kyodo News quoted government officials as saying. The defense ministry will include the costs in its budget request for fiscal 2014, said the report, adding that the ministry also plans to increase the number of such staff in European countries that have influence on Africa countries, such as Britain,...

RABAT, August 23, 2013 (AFP) - A wealthy Moroccan businessman was named interim finance minister on Friday, as the ruling Islamist party pursues efforts to form a new coalition government after its main ally quit. Aziz Akhennouch, a technocrat in his 50s who headed the ministry of agriculture and fisheries in the two previous governments, was appointed to the key cabinet post, the official MAP news agency reported. He replaces Nizar Baraka, whose Istiqlal party withdrew from the ruling coalition in July after strongly criticising the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) for failing to shore up the economy and solve pressing social problems. Morocco's government has been hamstrung since May when Istiqlal first announced its intention to withdraw...

RABAT, August 22, 2013 (AFP) - Some 150 Moroccans, including dozens of children, protested outside the justice ministry in Rabat on Thursday demanding the release from prison of Islamist relatives they say are innocent. "Ten years have passed. How many more?" read one of the placards held up by protesters, who also waved Islamist flags and sang Islamic chants. Morocco has jailed thousands of Islamists on terror charges over the past decade, most famously after 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca in which 33 people were killed. The authorities frequently announce dismantling jihadist cells with suspected links to Al-Qaeda. They say more than 120 have been busted in the past 10 years, including as recently as Friday.But those attending Thursday's demonstration...

(Reuters) - Tanzania-focused miner African Barrick Gold pinned its turnaround hopes on a new chief executive on Wednesday, appointing industry veteran Bradley A Gordon to replace Greg Hawkins at the helm of the struggling group. The FTSE 250 company, whose poor performance meant it was under pressure even before a gold price rout began in April, said Gordon's appointment would be effective immediately. Gordon, who has worked in the gold mining industry for 30 years, was previously CEO of Intrepid Mines, the Canadian and Australian listed precious metals exploration and development company with primary operations in Indonesia. Analysts welcomed the change, and said Gordon's his lack of African experience was balanced by his ability to manage difficult operations. "The announcement...

LONDON | Wed Aug 21, 2013 (Reuters) - Tanzania-focused miner African Barrick Gold on Wednesday named industry veteran Bradley A Gordon as its new chief executive, succeeding Greg Hawkins who has resigned to pursue other opportunities. African Barrick was under pressure even before a gold price rout began in April, hit by illegal mining, power generation problems and strikes, issues which forced it to warn in February that output would shrink for a fifth straight year. Gordon, who has worked in the gold mining industry for 30 years, was previously CEO of Intrepid Mines, the Canadian and Australian listed precious metals exploration and development company with primary operations in Indonesia. African Barrick initiated a review of its operations earlier this...

African immigrants warned Monday of a rise in racist attacks in Morocco, as hundreds gathered outside a morgue holding the body of a Senegalese man who was murdered last week. Some 250 people, mostly Senegalese immigrants, gathered outside the morgue in Rabat, where the man's remains were taken after he was stabbed to death on a bus in the Moroccan capital last Monday. Anna Bynes, a Senegalese student at Rabat university, said the attack was the latest in a string of racist violence targeting sub-Saharan Africans. "It is the last straw... The other day it was a Congolese man killed on a bus in Tangiers. Then a Gabonese woman was raped. Today a Senegalese has been killed." The police on...

MBABANE – As talks regarding the extension of AGOA post 2015 kicked off on Monday in Ethiopia’s Capital City Addis Ababa, Swaziland and other 49 African countries will be very lucky to see the legislation extended with the same existing terms and conditions, International Business Times has reported. Swaziland is one of the 49 AGOA beneficiaries. AGOA stands for Africa Growth Opportunity Act. AGOA was signed into law in 2000; it offers incentives mostly in the form of duty-free trade access to 49 eligible sub-Saharan economies to liberalise their markets and build connections with American trade partners. The agreement expires in 2015, and US and African officials would be setting fresh terms for its renewal. According to International Business Times,...

LONDON | Wed Aug 14, 2013 (Reuters) - Iron ore mining group African Minerals (AMIq.L) surprised the market on Wednesday with the abrupt departure of both chief executive and chief financial officer and said it was scrapping expansion plans to focus on existing operations. Its shares fell almost 15 percent despite what some analysts said could prove a positive as the company concentrates on its Sierra Leone mine, Tonkolili. "From the onset it was clear that (Chief Executive Keith)Calder's broader ambition was to grow African Minerals into a diversified miner across West Africa in the near term," Jefferies analysts said in a note. "Perhaps our greatest concern for African Minerals in recent months was that the company would move too...

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — The first Pan African Conference on Interreligious Freedoms has ended in Cameroon with participants from 80 countries from Africa and beyond. Participants pledged to work together for the service of peace in the name of God. Conference participants say development across Africa has been greatly slowed by interreligious conflicts. The case of Nigeria was cited as one of the worst, with tens of thousands of lives lost in fighting between Muslim and Christian communities, and thousands more killed by the Islamist militant-sect Boko Haram. South African-based Malawian cleric Hopeson Bonye says nothing good has come out of Boko Haram, saying it is just fighting everyone, and is extending its tentacles to neighboring countries. "It is wrong, and...

NAIROBI — The United States is keeping a close watch on potential European trade deals with African nations as Washington reviews its own preferential trade initiative with the continent. African ministers and U.S. officials discussed trade relations at a forum Monday in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The U.S. is considering an extension to the popular African Growth and Opportunity Act, known as AGOA, an American law that allows sub-Saharan African countries to export certain products to the United States duty free. First signed into law in 2000, the act has already been renewed once, and is set to expire in 2015. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman has been meeting with African ministers at an AGOA forum in Addis Ababa...

UN chief Ban Ki-moon says the Central African Republic (CAR) has suffered a "total breakdown of law and order" since rebels seized power in March. He urged the UN Security Council to consider sanctions or to set up a panel of experts to monitor the situation. Seleka rebel group leader Michel Djotodia ousted President Francois Bozize in March. Last month Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said the country's health care system had collapsed. In a report that the Security Council is due to discuss on Wednesday, Mr Ban said infighting among rebel groups had led to widespread abuses. "They included arbitrary arrests and detention, sexual violence against women and children, torture, rape, targeted killings, recruitment of child soldiers and attacks, committed...

At least 16 royal guardsmen have been killed in Morocco after their bus plunged into a ravine, media reports and doctors say. More than 40 other guardsmen were injured in the crash near al-Hoceima in the north of the country. The guardsmen were reportedly travelling north to prepare for a visit by King Mohammed VI. The 6,000-strong Moroccan Royal Guard is part of the military but its sole function is royal security. The Moroccan news agency MAP said the bus had fallen into a 200-metre (656ft) ravine on the road between Tetouan and al-Hoceima but that the cause of the crash was not yet known. The injured have been taken to a provincial hospital in al-Hoceima. Eight are said to...

JOHANNESBURG, August 11, 2013 (AFP) - Nelson Mandela is making "slow but steady" progress back to health, although he remains critically ill, the office of the South African president said Sunday. The 95-year-old former president and anti-apartheid icon has been in hospital for more than two months with a recurring lung infection. "Former President Nelson Mandela continues to receive treatment in hospital in Pretoria and doctors have indicated to President Jacob Zuma that the former president is making a slow but steady improvement," a statement from the presidency said. "The medical team also reiterated that although his health was improving steadily, Madiba still remained in a critical condition," it added, referring to Mandela by his clan name. Zuma asked South...

(Reuters) - Six migrants drowned off the Italian island of Sicily on Saturday after attempting a dangerous passage from Africa in a fishing boat, according to the Italian coastguard. The 18-metre-long boat carrying some 120 migrants ran aground at dawn some 40 meters (132 feet) from a beach near the city of Catania, its coastguard captain Roberto D'Arrigo said. While most of the passengers reached the shore, the six who drowned were apparently unable to swim. The 120 migrants were mainly from Syria and Egypt, D'Arrigo told Sky Italia television, with an adolescent boy among the victims, who were all under age 30. Egypt has suffered prolonged political and economic turmoil. Syria is shattered by civil war. D'Arrigo said he...

Nelson Mandela, who has been lying critically ill in hospital for just over two months, is becoming more alert and more responsive by the day, his youngest daughter said Friday, adding that the anti-apartheid hero is "not going anywhere anytime soon". "Tata (father) now manages to sit up, like now he is able to sit up in a chair for a few minutes in a day. Everyday you know, he becomes more alert, more responsive, and so on," Zindzi Mandela told South Africa public television SABC. "Tata is determined not to go anywhere anytime soon, I cannot stress this enough. "People must stop saying to the family let go, let go, we are just looking at this man who is...